Non-slip floor grating and method of manufacturing

ABSTRACT

A floor grate having two or more sets of rails with at least one set of rails including a textured portion on a top side of the rails. Additionally, at least one set of rails includes cutouts that are spaced apart and dimensioned to receive at least a part of each of the rails of the other set of rails. The twp or more sets of rails are coupled together by the cutouts.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to grates and more specifically to agrating adapted for use in or as a floor and the method of manufacturingsuch grating.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Floor grates or gratings are often used in industrial and commercialapplications and typically include rigid tread rails arranged side byside in series with a narrow space between the rails to allow for thepassage of water, slush, debris, and dirt. The rails are typicallyrigidly secured and are recessed in a floor surface, so as to form asubstantial continuation of the floor surface. In the recess area of thefloor where the grating is supported, there may also be a drain forremoving water, dirt, slush, or debris. As such, floor grates oftenrequire the ability to support significant loads and are subject tovibration and fluids such as water. Such floor grates often must alsoinclude a non-skid surface to minimize loss of traction to personstraversing the floor grates.

In the design and construction of floor grates, consideration is oftengiven to the manner in which the grate or grate rails are securedtogether and held in a predetermined spaced relation. Typically thedesired objective is to accomplish the desired spacing and securement ina manner that accommodates an economical manufacture and assembly of thegrate structure. It has been customary to construct floor grates withstructural rails or other elements that extend transversely andlongitudinally. Often parallel load bearing rails are perpendicular toconnecting or spacing non-load-bearing rails.

Floor grates have typically been made from metal, plastic, or compositeintersecting rails that interlock at the points of intersection. Somefloor grates are designed to be manufactured without requiring weldingor other forms of permanent attachment. Often these floor grates includerails with slots or holes that are sized or shaped to form a press-fitor a mechanical deformation when intersecting another rail. Other knownfloor grates include interconnecting rods and/or end rails that form thestructural integrity for the grating or utilize a swaged lockingstructure to securely retain the cross rails to the bearing rails. Oftenthese structures are designed to minimize or eliminate the use ofwelding or similar bonding in the construction of the grate. However,these grates have many parts or features that require additionalmanufacturing steps. These steps often include having the top surface ofthe bearing rails scored or impregnated to improve traction. Such floorgrates are difficult and cumbersome to assemble, costly to manufacture,and often do not perform well in a hostile user environment.

Additionally, some floor grates are made of a metal, plastic, orcomposite material that is formed by molding or extrusion. These floorgrates often include a top surface that has been scored or that has beenimpregnated with a coarse or frictional material such as silica. Thesefloor grates generally wear out over time and their top surfaces becomeslick and therefore dangerous in wet environments such as kitchens oroutdoors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventor hereof has succeeded at designing a floor grate and methodof manufacturing that is durable and provides a long lasting textured ornon-slip surface. Such a floor grate is manufactured according to amethod that provides relatively few manufacturing steps and thereforecan be manufactured at lower costs as compared to previous methods andgrates.

According to one aspect of the invention, a floor grate comprises two ormore rails with at least one of the sets of rails having a texturedportion on a top side of the rails. Additionally, at least one of thesets of rails includes cutouts that are spaced apart and dimensioned toreceive at least a part of each of the rails of the other set of rails.The two or more sets of rails are coupled together by the cutouts.

According to another aspect of the invention, a floor grate comprises afirst plurality of spaced parallel rails where each first rail has atextured portion on a top side. A second plurality of spaced parallelrails is included in which each second rail has a textured portion on atop side and intersects a plurality of the first rails. Each second railhas a plurality of spaced cutouts formed along at least one side. Thecutouts are spaced apart and dimensioned to receive a portion of thefirst rails. A portion of the first rails is received within thecutouts.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of forming aportion of floor grate includes forming two or more rails from a sheetof material with the rails having a bottom side and a top side with atextured portion. The method also includes forming the top side of thetwo rails simultaneously with a single cut.

Further aspects of the present invention will be in part apparent and inpart pointed out below. It should be understood that various aspects ofthe invention may be implemented individually or in combination with oneanother. It should also be understood that the detailed description anddrawings, while indicating certain exemplary embodiments of theinvention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and should notbe construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an unassembled floor grate according toa first exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembled floor grate according tothe first exemplary embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an unassembled floor grate according toa second exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an assembled floor grate according tothe second exemplary embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a top view of an assembled floor grate according to variousembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a sheet of metal indicating the manufacturingpattern for forming a plurality of first and second rails according tovarious exemplary embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a close up top view of a sheet of metal with a pattern to formthree rails according to one embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a close up top view of a sheet of metal with a pattern to formtwo rails according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D are graphs illustrating various cuttingpatterns and dimensions for forming a textured non-slip surface on railsfor a floor grate according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a top view of a sheet of metal indicating the manufacturingpattern for forming a plurality of first and second rails according toanother exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Like reference symbols indicate like elements or features throughout thedrawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is in no wayintended to limit the invention, its applications, or uses.

In a first embodiment of the invention, a floor grate includes at leasttwo sets of rails with at least one of the sets of rails comprises atleast one textured portion on a top side of the rails. Additionally, atleast one of the sets of rails includes cutouts that are spaced apartand dimensioned to receive at least a part of each of the rails of theother set of rails. The at least two sets of rails are coupled togetherby the cutouts. Referring to FIG. 1, in one exemplary embodiment firstrails 102 are aligned parallel to each other and spaced a first distanceD1 apart. Second rails 104 are also aligned parallel to each other andspaced a second distance D2 apart. Second rails 104 are positioned at apredetermined angle with regard to each of the first rails 102, and inone preferred embodiment, are positioned perpendicular to each of thefirst rails 102. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, each firstrail 102 has a rail height of D5 and has a top side 110 and a railthickness of D8. Each second rail 104 also includes a top side 108 and arail height of D6 and a rail thickness of D10. As shown, both the topsides 108 and 110 can be textured with a textured surface 107 to form anon-slip or friction surface, or only one of top sides 108 or 110 can betextured. In other embodiments, only the first rails 102 or the secondrails 104 may have the textured surface 107 on the top side. Further, itis also possible to implement the invention by texturing only a portionof one or both sets of the rails 102, 104 to create a non-slip portion.Additionally, the textured portions of each first rail 102 and secondrail 104 can include a plurality of lateral channels with the lateralchannel of the first rails 102 being generally perpendicular to thelateral channels of the second rails 104.

Each second rail 104 includes second rail cutouts 106 along one side,such as the top side as shown by way of example. Each second rail cutout106 is spaced a distance D3 apart and dimensioned to receive at least aportion of each of the first rails 102. Each second rail cutout 106 canbe formed from the top side (as shown) or from the bottom side and has adepth D4 from the defining side. The cutout depth D4 is less than railheight D6. As shown in this exemplary embodiment, the height of firstrail D5 is less than the height of second rail D6. In one embodiment,the second rail cutout depth D4 is substantially equivalent to theheight D5 of first rail 102 such that when the first rail 102 isreceived into the second rail cutout 106, the first top side 110 issubstantially in the same plane as the second top side 108, one or bothof which can be textured. In other embodiments, the first top side 110may be in a different plane or offset from the second top side 108. Theheight of the first rail 102 could be less than the cutout depth suchthat the top of the first rail 110 is recessed below the height of thesecond rail 104. Regardless, it is desirable that the top surface 110and/or 108 upon which a user's foot would contact include a portion oftexture to provide a non-slip surface.

One or both of rails 102 and 104 can be composed of a variety ofmaterials including metals such as steel, stainless steel, iron, andaluminum; plastic, and composite. Also the first rails 102 and thesecond rails 104 can be generally rectangular in shape. However, inother embodiments, the rails 102 and 104 can have other shapes, such as,by way of example, round, I-shaped, T-shaped, or a more complex shape.

FIG. 2 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a grate 100 assembledutilizing the first rails 102 and the second rails 104 with the secondrail cutout 106 as shown in FIG. 1, rotated by 90 degrees. As shown,each first rail 102 is received in each second rail cutout 106 such thatthe first top side 110 and the second top side 108 together form asubstantially planar floor grate 100. As noted, each second rail cutout106 is dimensioned to generally receive each first rail 102. While thedimensions of each second rail cutout 106 can be equivalent or slightlylarger or smaller than the outer dimension D8 of each first rail 102, inthe preferred dimension the second rail cutouts 106 are slightly largerthan the outer dimension D8 of the first rail 102. A bond 112 fixedlycouples the first rails 102 to the second rails 104. The bond 112 can bean epoxy or other bonding agent, or can be a weld when the rails 102 and104 are composed of metal or plastic. In some embodiments, the bond 112is located on the lower portion of the first rails 102 and can also beon the lower portion of the second rails 104.

The textured surface 107 of either top sides 108 and 110 can be formedby any means and therefore can be of any shape and style. In someembodiments, the textured surface 107 can be substantially rounded, arcshaped, or cross-shaped. In an embodiment of the rounded or arc shapedtexture 107, the arcs can be formed from one side to another andsubstantially perpendicular to a plane containing the side of the secondrail 104. Other embodiments of such arc shaped texture 107 will bediscussed in further detail below. The term texture for the texturedsurface 107 is used broadly herein and can include any formation on thesurface of the grate that will enhance friction on the surface of thegrate.

In other embodiments of the invention, a floor grate includes a firstplurality of spaced parallel rails where each first rail has at leastone textured portion on a top side. A second plurality of spacedparallel rails is included in which each second rail has at least onetextured portion on a top side and intersects a plurality of the firstrails. Each second rail has a plurality of spaced cutouts formed alongat least one side. The cutouts are spaced apart and dimensioned toreceive at least a portion of the first rails. At least a portion of thefirst rails is received within the cutouts.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, another embodiment of the invention isillustrated. As noted above, like reference symbols indicate likeelements or features throughout the drawings and therefore thedescription of these like elements and features are not separatelydescribed herein. In this embodiment, the first rails 102 also includefirst rail cutouts 114 that are spaced and dimensioned to receive thesecond rails 104. As illustrated, the first rail cutouts 114 are spacedand dimensioned to interlock with the second rail cutouts 106 and assuch, the width D11 of the first rail cutouts 114 are equal to orslightly larger than the width of the second rails D10. The depth D8 ofthe first rail cutouts 114 is dimensioned to couple with the depth D4 ofthe second rail cutouts 106 so that each first top side 110substantially aligns in the same plane as each second top side 108 whenthe first rails 102 and second rails 104 are coupled. In otherembodiments, the first top side 110 may be in a different plane oroffset from the second top side 108. While the rail heights D7 and D6,of rails 102 and 104 are shown as being equal, in other embodiments theheights D7 and D6 can be different and still be within the scope of thepresent invention. In such embodiments, the top of one of the railswould be recessed below the top of the other set of rails when the rails102 and 104 are coupled together.

As shown in FIG. 4 that illustrates the assembled grate of FIG. 3,rotated by 90 degrees, after coupling the rails 102 and 104 can befixedly attached or bonded at one or more points of coupling orintersection. Such bonding methods can be by any variety, some of whichare described above with regard to FIG. 2.

Various embodiments of a floor grate 500 according to the presentinvention have a top view as shown in FIG. 5. The first rails 102 areeach spaced distance D1 apart and the second rails 104 are each spaceddistance D2 apart. However, it should be understood that within aparticular floor grate 500 the rail spacings D1 and D2 could vary orhave multiple distances so as to form a pattern or as may be desired ornecessary for a particular user application, such as may be required fora particular strength or loading. For example, based on the requireddimensions for a particular user application, one or more rails may beadded at a separate distance D2′ near floor grate side 502 or 504 toprovide a side rail (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 5, the first rails 102 and the second rails 104 arealigned and coupled such that the first top side 110 and second top side108 form a substantially planar top surface. Additionally, as shown, byway of example, each first top side 110 and each second top side 108include textured surface 107. In this manner, the floor grate 500provides a fractioned surface that is rough and is not slippery in wetor moist floor applications. Additionally, in this exemplary embodimentwhere both the first rails 102 and the second rails 104 are textured inboth longitudinal and traverse directions on a common plane, thetextured top surface 107 of floor grate 500 provides an improvednon-slip surface over grates that are only textured along only a singleor primary bearing rail. Further, when floor grate 500 is composed ofmetal rails 102 and 104 and the textured surface 107 is a cut texture,the textured surface 107 forming the non-slip surface will not easilywear out or become slick even when wet or covered with dirt or debris.As shown by way of example in FIG. 5, the textured surface 107 isillustrated as cross-cut or X-pattern. Of course, other types andpatterns of surfaces are also within the scope of the invention. Also,although not shown, the textured pattern of one set of rails can beformed at an angle with respect to the pattern of the second set ofrails in embodiments where both sets of rails include at least texturedportions. The floor grates discussed herein can be designed andmanufactured according of various methods. For example, in oneembodiment of the invention, a method of forming a portion of floorgrate includes forming at least two rails from a sheet of material withthe rails having a bottom side and a top side with a textured portion.The method also includes forming the top side of the two railssimultaneously with a single cut. Additionally, in some embodiments thesingle cut is a line having a channel pattern and in others the channelcan have rounded corners. The method can also include forming the bottomside of the rails simultaneously with a single cut that is substantiallyparallel to the single cut that forms the two top sides or can includealternating cuts on the sheet of material to form two top sides followedby two bottom sides. In some cases, the cuts forming the two bottomsides can include forming a cutout portion in the bottom sides that arespaced apart. In other embodiments, the cuts forming the top sides caninclude forming a cutout portion in the top sides that are spaced apart.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a sheet of rail material is laid outwith a manufacturing pattern 600 for forming a plurality of first andsecond rails. The sheet of rail material sheet 602 has a left side 610and a right side 612, together defining a sheet width DS1, and a topside 611 and a bottom side 613, together defining a sheet length DS2.The rail material sheet 602 also has a depth (not shown in the figure)that is the thickness of the material sheet. A pattern can be laid outon the rail material sheet 602 either physically or in the memory orsoftware of a supporting computer. The supporting computer can be anytype of computer capable of running the rail layout and formingsoftware. A plurality of first rails 102 and second rails 104 can beformed from one or more rail material sheets 602 so as to optimize theforming process and to minimize any waste of the rail material sheet602. Although not shown, a thin piece of scrap material could be cutaround the border of the rail material sheet 602 shown in FIG. 6 duringthe cutting process to yield the pattern 600 of FIG. 6. Additionally,while all first rails 102 and second rails 104 are shown in pattern 600to be laid out longitudinally, other patterns may include some firstrails 102 and second rails 104 laid out transversely or in otherpatterns so as to optimize the utilization of the material sheet 602 andminimize waste material.

As shown by way of example in FIGS. 6, and 7, first rails 102A-E can beformed adjacent to each other and second rails 104A-D can be formedadjacent to each other or separately. In this example, first rail 102Ais formed by cutting the rail material sheet 602 with a textured surface107 (as shown in FIG. 1) having a patterned line 606. This cut line 606creates a strip of scrap material (as shown as 1004 in FIG. 10). Aftercutting texture line 606, the cutter indexes to cut along a straight cutline 608 that includes forming cutouts or slots 604, e.g., cutting astraight line between the slots 604 and cutting slots 604 as an integralprocess of cutting line 608. The straight cut line 608 separates firstrail 102A from the rest of rail material sheet 602. In some embodiments,a cutter may also produce a small strip of scrap material (see 1004 inFIG. 10) on either the right side 612 or left side 610 during theindexing process. The texture line 606 can be of a variety of designsand in one embodiment can be a series of arc-shaped cross-sectionedlateral channels 107 (see FIG. 1). Additionally, slots 604 can be formedin one or both of rails 102A and 102B when cutting one rail from anotherrail. The slots 604 can be cut to a depth of D4 such that each cut istwo times D4 in length (see FIG. 3). In this manner, both rails can beefficiently produced with minimal waste of material.

Next, the texture cut line 606 separates rail 102B from the rest of railmaterial sheet 602 and the process is repeated for each desired firstrail 102. Each straight cut 608 and texture line 606 is spaced to definea first rail 102 having a first rail height of D7. Additionally, duringthe rail forming operations, one or more rails 102 and 104 can be formedin pattern 600 between the left side 610 and the right side 612 byadding in one or more lateral cuts 609 to form rails of a desired lengthand to form a floor grate having a desired size.

A similar set of forming operations is performed to produce theplurality of second rails 104A-D having a rail height of D6, as shown inFIGS. 6 and 8. The center portion of FIG. 6 can be used to form anyadditional rails. Additionally, it should be noted that a combination offirst rails 102 and 104 can be laid out to be produced simultaneouslyand not separately as laid out in pattern 600. In this example, thedifference between second rails 104A-D and first rails 102A-E is thatthe cutouts 604 are formed during the formation of the texture line 606rather than the straight cut line 608. The resulting first rails 102 andsecond rails 104 would be formed according to the exemplary embodimentas described above with regard to FIGS. 3 and 4. Other designs andpatterns can be utilized to form rails according to other embodiments ofthe invention.

It should be understood to those skilled in the art that forming of therails 102 and 104 from the rail material sheet can be by anymanufacturing method and can include, by way of example, cutting,stamping, shearing, and knurling. For example, the rails 102 and 104 canbe cut by a cutting blade, or by a laser, a waterjet, or an electricaldischarge machine or they may be molded or stamped. Such forming methodcan be, in part, determined based on the selected rail sheet materialthat can be any variety of materials, including metals such as steel,stainless steel, iron, and aluminum, plastic, and composites. In onepreferred embodiment, the cutting is by way of a computer-controlledlaser that provides for forming the textured side of each first rail andeach second rail, when required. Also, to aid in the efficientmanufacturing of rails 102 and 104 the present method, as illustrated inFIG. 6, provides for laser cutting the first rails, the second rails,the cutouts, and the textured sides requiring only a single laserpiercing per material sheet. This is just one of the benefits of someembodiments of the present method since each laser piercing is costly,time consuming, and provides additional wear on the laser cuttingsystem. Also as shown in FIG. 6, the present method provides for theability to utilize common line cutting (lines 606 and 608) to form orseparate more than a single rail 102 and/or 104 in a single lineoperation. Further, such a method also provides for bridge cutting asone method of moving the cutting apparatus or system about the railmaterial sheet 602 without requiring additional or unnecessary piercingsor starts and stops. Each of these methods, according to variousembodiments of the invention can provide for reduced manufacturing timeand expense and therefore reduced unit cost for the manufacturedproduct. Additionally, the present methods can provide for considerablyless waste material after forming rails 102 and 104 from rail materialsheet 602.

FIG. 10 illustrates another sheet of material 1002 having a pattern 1003for forming the first rails 102 with cutouts 604 and the second rails104 with cutouts 604. In this example, the pattern 1003 is laid out onthe material sheet 1002 such that once the rails 102 and 104 are cut,waste material 1004 is produced around the periphery of pattern 1003 andthe produced rails 102 and 104. Generally, the rail forming processdescribed herein provides for substantially less waste material 1004than other methods. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the pattern 1003can be adjusted or arranged to minimize waste material 1004.

After the rails are formed according to the methods described herein andin FIGS. 6-10, each first rail 102 and second rail 104 are coupled asdescribed in one or more of the above embodiments and bonded orotherwise fixedly coupled together. Such bonding can be by any method ormeans and can include chemical or heat bonding, or can include solderingor welding, by way of example.

As noted, the present invention can provide in some embodiments for theefficient manufacturing of a floor grate having a textured surface 107.As described in FIGS. 6-8, the textured surface 107 of one or both thefirst rail 102 and the second rail 104 can be formed during the railforming and separating process by texture cut line 606 when the rails102 and 104 are formed from the rail material sheet 602. FIGS. 9A, 9B,9C, and 9D illustrate various cutting graphs and dimensions for texturecut line 606 that simultaneously cut lateral channels in two adjacentrails to form two textured top surfaces according to one exemplaryembodiment of the invention. In FIG. 9A, the cut line 606A is formedbetween a first rail 902A and a second rail 902B, or at least thetheoretical top side 901 of such rails 902A and 902B. The textured cutline 606A is an alternating line having a plurality of peaks 904 andvalleys 906. A plurality of straight portions 914 can be formed betweenthe peaks 904 and valleys 906 in some embodiments, or in otherembodiments, the textured cut line 606 could be, by way of example,sinusoidal, square, round, or triangular. In FIG. 9A, the peaks 904 oftextured cut line 606 form a textured peak of rail 902B and a texturedvalley of rail 902A. Inversely, the valleys 906 form a textured peak ofrail 902A and a textured valley of rail 902B. The height 916 of thetotal cut line 606A can be any height with one preferred embodimentbeing illustrated in FIG. 9A as being 0.3688 inches. The total period917 of the peaks and valley of cut line 606A can be any period and inthis example is 0.06568 inches. Of course, these dimensions are only forillustrative purposes and are not intended to be limiting, as many otherdimensions are also applicable.

FIG. 9B illustrates, by way of example, a cut line 606B defines the Xand Y coordinates of one-half of the straight portion 914 as being0.00776 inches and 0.01344 inches, respectively. The total length of thestraight portion 914 is illustrated in FIG. 9D as being 0.02668 inches.FIG. 9C illustrates, also by way of example, the curvature of the peaks904 and valley 906 as being 120 degrees and having a radius of 0.01inches. FIGS. 9A-D provide several features associated with oneembodiment of a textured cut line 606 that can be utilized for formingthe top sides 108 and 110 with a textured surface 107 during the railforming process. In the manner described herein, a cutting or formingdevice, can effectively form the rails 102 and 104 with the top sides108 and 110 without requiring a stopping and starting of the cuttingdevice. By enabling the cutting device to stay in motion, the cuttingoperation can be significantly improved thereby increasing themanufacturing efficiency and decreasing the manufacturing costs.

When describing elements or features of the present invention orembodiments thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the”, and “said” areintended to mean that there are one or more of the elements or features.The terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” are intended to beinclusive and mean that there may be additional elements or featuresbeyond those specifically described.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes can be madeto the exemplary embodiments and implementations described above withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshould be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is further to be understood that the steps described herein are notto be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in theparticular order discussed or illustrated. It is also to be understoodthat additional or alternative steps may be employed.

1. A floor grate comprising: a first plurality of spaced parallel rails,each first rail having a textured portion on a top side; and a secondplurality of spaced parallel rails, each second rail having a texturedportion on a top side and intersecting a plurality of the first rails,each second rail having a plurality of spaced cutouts formed along oneside, said cutouts being spaced apart and dimensioned to receive aportion of the first rails, a portion of the first rails being receivedwithin the cutouts.
 2. The floor grate of claim 1 wherein the texturedportions of each first rail and each second rail includes a plurality oflateral channels.
 3. The floor grate of claim 2 wherein each lateralchannel has rounded corners.
 4. The floor grate of claim 3 wherein thefirst rails and the second rails are each configured from a metal. 5.The floor grate of claim 1 wherein the textured portions of each firstand second rail include a plurality of lateral channels and the lateralchannel of the first rails are generally perpendicular to the lateralchannels of the second rails.
 6. The floor grate of claim 1 wherein eachfirst rail is fixedly coupled to each second rail by welding.
 7. Thefloor grate of claim 1 wherein the cutouts are on the same side as theside having the textured portion.
 8. The floor grate of claim 1 whereinthe first rails have a height dimension that is equivalent to the heightdimension of the depth of the cutouts and wherein the first rails arereceived within the cutouts and the top sides of the first rails aresubstantially planar with the top sides of the second rails.
 9. Thefloor grate of claim 1 wherein the cutouts of the second rails are onthe top sides and the first rails have cutouts sized to fit within thecutouts of the second rails, said cutouts of the first rails being onthe bottom sides of the first rails.
 10. The floor grate of claim 1wherein the cutouts of the first and second rails are dimensioned suchthat when the first rails are coupled to the second rails, the top sidesof the first and second rails are generally planar.
 11. A method offorming a portion of floor grate, the method comprising: forming two ormore rails from a sheet of material, the rails having a top side with atextured portion and a bottom side; and forming the top side of the tworails simultaneously with a single cut.
 12. The method of claim 11wherein the single cut is a line having a channel pattern.
 13. Themethod of claim 12 wherein the channel has rounded corners.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising forming the bottom side of therails simultaneously with a single cut that is substantially parallel tothe single cut that forms the two top sides.
 15. The method of claim 14,further comprising alternating cuts on the sheet of material to form twotop sides followed by two bottom sides.
 16. The method of claim 14wherein the cuts to form the two bottom sides include forming a cutoutportion in the bottom sides that are spaced apart.
 17. The method ofclaim 11 wherein the cuts to form the top sides include forming a cutoutportion in the top sides that are spaced apart.
 18. A floor gratecomprising: two or more sets of rails; at least one set of rails havinga textured portion on a top side of the rails; at least one set of railshaving cutouts being spaced apart and dimensioned to receive at least apart of each of the rails of the other set of rails; and the sets ofrails being coupled together by the cutouts.
 19. The floor grate ofclaim 18 wherein each rail of a first set of rails is fixedly coupled toeach rail of a second set of rails by welding.
 20. The floor grate ofclaim 18 wherein each set of rails has a textured portion on a top side.21. The floor grate of claim 18 wherein each set of rails cutouts spacedapart and dimensioned to receive a cutout from another set of rails.